Being Sane
by Reality-or-Dream
Summary: "Why not ask for help Alice?" the voice whispered in his ear again. This time Arthur chose to ignore it, even though he couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched from behind. /Disturbing scenes, swearing, blood, This was doen for NaNoWriMo
1. Following The Rabbit

As the September rain grew heavier, the English fifteen year old was encouraged to pull his pathetic excuse of a coat closer to his slim body, which didn't make things any better. Emerald eyes scanned the road for any signs of the bus which was meant to arrive at least half an hour ago, it was now 9:34PM and pitch black. Letting out a sigh, he leaned lazily against the pole, chewing one of the bright electric blue mushrooms his brother gave him, gazing into the intimidating forest before him, thinking of the perfect reason as to why his family had given up on him and kicked him out.

Hm… maybe it was because he refused the help that his few friends and family offered. Maybe it was because from time to time he would scream and shout insults into thin air causing passers by to whisper and stare at the distressed teen, avoiding him at all costs. Or maybe it was the fact that he tried so hard to convince himself that he actually was sane and nothing was wrong with him and he was a normal teenage boy like every other guy in his school.

The giggle he heard next to him proved him how wrong he was.

Arthur looked next to him, at his problem for everything. This teenager must be no older than sixteen, he was quite short for a teenage boy his age, only slightly taller than the sandy haired teen who too was small for an average fifteen year old, had rich chocolate eyes that held no emotion other than insanity, his reddish brown hair was a dry mess with a curl sticking out. His skin was that of a corpse, pale, very pale with a slight tinge of grey to it and was ice cold to the touch. Arthur noted that for some strange reason the crazed teen was holding onto a poppy - it was another couple of months till Remembrance Day - but he chose not to say anything. The black long sleeved cotton shirt he wore hung off of his skinny frame, and was ripped in several places to reveal the scarred flesh beneath it, a necklace with a black and silver cross dangled from the skinny neck, his jeans had seen better days, once upon a time they were the colour of the sky, but now the piece of clothing was a faded blue, almost grey, they too were ripped here and there, stained with a crimson liquid. As for footwear the teen wore grey, blood stained trainers that had once been pure white.

Arthur has been able to see this person all his life.

For as long as the emerald eyed teen could remember, this strange being was always there. One of his earliest memories of this weird teen was when he was very young, about five…maybe six. After receiving no attention from any of his older brothers, or sister, the child was reduced to sitting in his room playing with a green stuffed bunny his French cousin had given him. The familiar figure was sitting on his bed next to the lonely child.

_._._._

"_Aren't you sad?" he asked in his thick Italian accent, the small child was beginning to pretend the stuffed animal was flying._

_After a few seconds of silence, Arthur set down the plush toy and looked into chocolate brown eyes. "No, why?" he asked confused._

"_You're all alone."_

"_No I'm not." the boy said picking up the toy and began to cuddle it. "You're here."_

_The corpse smiled. "No I'm not, not to normal people." with that he stood up and walked over to the window, looking out of it as if expecting someone. _

"…_What are you looking at?"_

"_I'm waiting."_

"_For what?"_

_Brown eyes met emerald. The Italian teenager seemed to hesitate before smiling insanely at the young boy. "You'll find out soon."_

_._._._

Arthur never did get to know what was meant by this, and maybe he didn't want to. The teenager that has been with throughout the whole of his pathetic fifteen years of life was…well…if there was one word to describe him, it would be _disturbed. _Deeply.

The sandy blonde noticed that the boy in front of him was staring into the forest, looking for something.

"What're you looking at?" the English teen asked, bushy eyebrows knitted together as he looked at the teenager next to him suspiciously, it stopped raining.

After several minutes, the chocolate eyed teenager replied; _"I'm waiting."_

"_For what?"_

Brown eyes met emerald. The Italian teenager seemed to hesitate before smiling insanely_. "You'll find out soon."_

Sensing déjà vu, Arthur opened his mouth to ask what he meant by that, but something white caught him in the corner of his eye. He turned to see what his mad companion was looking at.

There was a boy standing in between a couple of trees that had long ago fallen from the harsh weather that Britain had to offer. The boy looked Asian, was most likely around the age of thirteen or fourteen - he still had a bit of a baby face - had short black hair that was perfect and symmetrical, deep brown eyes that held no emotion what so ever and natural pale skin, although with the moon just appearing out of the clouds, it made the Asian teen look ghost like. He wore black and silver trainers, white jeans, a white long sleeved collared shirt that was too big for him but didn't seem bothered to roll the sleeves up. There was a black chain that hung round his neck down to just above his stomach, at the end of it was a black pocket watch that contrasted against the white shirt, and for some reason he had a pair of white rabbit ears that were attached to a headband. Which wasn't weird, not in the least.

The Asian looked away from the couple at the bus stop, picked up the watch, looked at it for a few seconds then jumped as though shot by a bolt of lightning, he turned and fled through the woods without looking back at the couple.

"Hey!" Arthur called out, just as he was about to cross the road to go after the boy, he spotted the lights of the late bus approaching. Cursing he decided to run after the Asian, not noticing the fact that for the first time in his life, the corpse didn't follow him.

_._._._

After several minutes of silence, minus the rain hitting the road and trees above, the Italian turned round and dropped the poppy which landed on the sodden grass, causing the two colours clashed against each other. He stared at the two colours, then muttered to himself; '_Red and Green should not be seen_.'

**A.N: Okay, so I've been working hard on this for ages. I've had the plot sorted out for months, character designs etc. **

**I found an amazing fanfic called 'Opaque' and it's kind of similar in some parts, but I swear on my life and everything I believe in that I found the fanfic after I sorted out how to write this and what character was what, so yeah .**

**Anyways, hope you guys will like this because it was made for NaNoWriMo, and I've worked so hard on it you have no idea. For those who've read some of my other fanfics, this is the main reason why I haven't uploaded 'Oh, How Cliché' just to let you know.**

**Reviews and all that are welcome.**


	2. Meeting Prussian

The intimidating forest was darker than he expected it to be. Arthur had found it hard to see where he was going - the trees were close together, as though whispering secrets together, blocking out the moon which was trying desperately to illuminate the forest floor - every now and then he would trip over a root or stray bramble, causing him to momentarily lose sight of the mysterious Asian in front of him. Then a thought came to mind; maybe if he continued to run he would soon catch up with the pale boy in front of him. With that set in mind, it seemed like the perfect plan. That was until they ran into a clearing - everything was now under a ghostly silver light - and the figure in front of him appeared to…fall. For a moment the sandy blonde thought that the careful boy had slipped, he then began to wonder why snowy ears didn't re-appear and cried out in shock as the earthy ground - which was scattered with twigs, leafs and roots - fell from beneath him and he tumbled into darkness.

_._._._

Ice cold air rushed through his sandy blonde hair, various roots and God knows what else flew by his exposed face, neck and hands cutting them, leaving stinging wounds seeping the precious liquid that contrasted against his pale skin, making it seem more vibrant. After several minutes of this, he began to slow down and was floating into the darkness. A swearing Arthur cursed his brother. The mushrooms, of course. He should've known something was wrong when he saw the colour of the electric blue shroom, it's cap was very much like a marshmallow and when he bit into it, a sweet, syrupy liquid would fill his mouth, craving for more soon afterwards.

Oh God, he was high.

He was probably lying at the side of the road, or most likely a muddy, filthy ditch twitching and drooling in reality, various vehicles driving by completely unaware of the stoned teen. Oh God he would have so much fun waking up in a hospital if someone had unfortunately come across him, or even better! The police station. His brother loved him so, Arthur can tell.

For some reason, the temperature seemed to rise causing the teenager to sweat under his clothes. Carefully he unzipped his thin, black coat and dropped it, half expecting the piece of clothing to fall, but instead it floated upwards, without pausing too long to wonder why that had happened, he pulled off his unusually thin dark green hoodie so he was left with his shirt. Feeling uncomfortable with the idea of taking it off -even if there wasn't anyone around - he chose to keep it on. No sooner had the hoodie floated upwards to wherever the ceiling was, Arthur realised that he could see. Looking down to see where the bottom was, he froze in fear, heart stopping for a brief moment. Past the warm light that seemed to be coming from the actual wall of the tunnel that was following him down, there was pitch blackness which was rather… eerie. After several minutes of floating into what seemed like nothingness, a bright purple mushroom lazily floated towards him. Arthur unconsciously grabbed the shroom to examine it. Should he eat it or not? His mind and common sense was screaming at him not to, but curiosity got the better and with a small shrug, he popped the brightly coloured mushroom into his mouth and bit down, making it turn into a dust as the taste of sherbet filled his mouth.

Before Arthur could analyse what was happening, gravity seemed to return and he plummeted into the darkness, the temperature suddenly changed from a Spanish Summers day to a typical British Winters morning. Once again loose roots and various objects passed the teen, only this time there was more skin exposed. This seemed to encourage the inanimate objects to cut through his flesh, the wounds were much deeper than before. It was very much like a hot knife through butter. Although, when the objects hit him on places where he wore clothing, there would be a sharp, painful sting and the English teen knew that there would be bruises left, many of which began to bleed after strucked multiple times. Throughout this whole experience, all he could feel was pain all round his entire body till it got to a point where he was numb all over. Then without warning he fell into ice cold water.

At first the fifteen year old was in shock because it was the last thing he expected, then he was grateful as the water soothed his body which seemed to be screaming in pain, but the feeling of relief didn't last as panic settled into his stomach when he realised the terrifying truth.

The water was like syrup.

It was dragging him down slowly, whenever he tried to move his limbs it was as though someone had pushed the slow button on a video. With his body crying out for oxygen, he automatically opened his mouth and inhaled, only to receive a lungful of the syrupy substance. Just as Arthur was about to pass out, his vision darkening, black spots appearing in front of his eyes, he felt himself being dragged upwards. When the cold air hit the teen, he automatically coughed and spluttered trying to take in as much air as he could. After coughing up all the syrup from his lungs and his body decided he had enough oxygen, the English teen began to wonder what the hell just happened. It was only then that Arthur realised something was pulling him a couple of feet above the now clear water that seemed to be bottomless. Looking up he yelped and tried to get away from the polar bear that was dragging him along icy water which was only syrup moments ago.

The polar bear took no notice of his pathetic struggling, it only continued to swim through the water as though nothing was wrong. After several minutes of making a pathetic attempt of escaping the Brit gave up when he heard the back of his collar rip from the beasts sharp teeth, he let out a sigh and looked into the dark water letting his mind wander…

"It must rain a lot."

Arthur jumped at the husky Canadian accent, he looked up at the polar bear. No, bears can't talk…can they? Of course not, it was impossible.

…Wasn't it?

There was a sigh. "Fine then, don't answer me." the husky voice said angrily, the emerald eyed teen looked up into dark eyes that seemed to glare at him. "Can't you talk?"

"…I thought bears couldn't talk." he replied, suddenly feeling childish after doing so. He sounded just like a small child telling their Primary school teacher that when it was story time. The one who was wasn't as dim as the others to fall for their tricks and lies.

The animal chuckled, hot breath ran down Arthur's back making him shudder in disgust. "What idiot told you that? Have you never met a bear?"

Arthur flushed. He felt intimated, this bear spoke to him as if he was a complete idiot. "Only in zoo's." he answered -again feeling childish for some reason, even though at the back of his mind, there was no reason to be feeling like that.

Although the teenager so desperately wanted to reply with a _really_ sarcastic answer, he didn't want to annoy the animal in case it suddenly decided it didn't like him and open his mouth to let the fifteen year old fall back into the icy water, which might just turn back into the deadly syrup. At this the bear laughed even harder - causing more of the horrible hot breath to tickle it's hostage's neck - the teen paling when the animal almost dropped him several times.

It then stopped and bobbed up and down in the water, letting out a last few chuckles. When the beast finally calmed down he said to the boy; "Bears in zoo's? That is a first for me, animals don't belong in zoo's. It's the mad people."

"Mad people?" the sandy haired teen echoed.

"Yeah." the bear nodded. "It's mainly all of the unclaimed Alice's that are found wondering the forests, or people who have spent too much time with Hatters." it paused and looked down at the teen.

Feeling more than a little bit uncomfortable under the animal's gaze, Arthur looked away and muttered. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Hm…Now that I look at you…" the bear muttered examining the teen without dropping him back into the water, completely ignoring the question. After several seconds passed the beast smiled, shook it's head and went to look forward again, "Never mind, forget about it."

Arthur opened his mouth to ask what the animal had meant by that, but instead he let out another cry of shock when the bear dropped him. The teen braced himself for the stabbing sensation that the ice-cold water had to offer. What he wasn't expecting was hard concrete like ground. The Brit landed on his knees with a loud 'thud', biting on his tongue in the process, the taste of copper filling his mouth, and then toppled over onto his side into a small pile if dead foliage. The teen let out a groan, his head aching from the shock. He sat up and opened his eyes, everything seemed to be swimming before them. He cradled his head in his hands for several minutes until the headache began to fade away a little. Lifting his head up again he turned to the side and spat out the warm blood.

"Bloody hell…" the emerald eyed teen muttered, before making the first attempt of standing up, he staggered and went to grab hold of something, his fingers came in contact with something sharp and by the time he held onto them, it was too late as the glass like thorns tore through his skin, staying there refusing to budge. Arthur cried out in pain and pulled away quickly, causing most of the hated thorns stay in his fingers. The teen began to mutter to himself in a very colourful language, and held his hand gritting his teeth only realising again too late that by doing so he forced the thorns to go deeper into his fingers. Emerald eyes looked down to observe the damage, and noticed for the first time that he was wearing fingerless sapphire blue cotton arm warmers.

Actually, it was then that he noticed he was wearing different clothing that before. He wore black Doc Martians that stopped just below his knee, with fluorescent green laces, which were under Matte Black boot cut jeans. The shirt he wore was too, fluorescent green, he noticed that there was a key ring attached near the bottom of the shirt just above the second button down, it was a small round plush toy, it's felt body was white with a piece of golden yellow felt sticking up, someone had drawn a pair of sky blue eyes, glasses and a small smile on it, it looked kind of…cute. Over the shirt was a black cotton vest that stopped just above the second to last button on his shirt, there was a badge of a black star on a lemon yellow background pinned on the vest, next to his heart. Arthur noted how he had a black beaded necklace which was doubled over, one part of it was slightly tight on his neck whereas the other part was lose and stopped a couple of centimetres bellow his collar, he also had a mask dangling from his neck, the type a surgeon would wear, although when he tried to put it on with one hand - his other hand was aching and bleeding from the damned thorns - it only covered his mouth, which worried him slightly. He also noticed that he wore dog-tags, one had the British flag on it, and the other had words written on it which read: CLAIMED ALICE. IF LOST PLEASE RETURN TO HIS/HER RIGHTFUL OWNER.

Puzzled by what was said on them, Arthur began to wonder what it meant. 'Claimed Alice'? Does this mean he belongs to someone? He can't possibly belong to someone, he is his own person after all. No one owns him, it's not as if he's some sort of pet. Like hell was he going to be a pet. Then again, this place so far was kind of trippy, so he wouldn't be surprised if he had an owner. But the thought of belonging to someone made him feel more than a little bit uneasy.

It made him _paranoid._

"Are you lost little Alice?" a German accent whispered into the English teen's ear, causing him to spin round, only to be faced with nothing but the sea of damned thorns and past that was a green field with a sand path that lead into a dark forest. He let out a tired sigh, probably his mind playing tricks again…nothing out of the ordinary.

Arthur looked down at his fingers which were seeping blood, he began to pull out the thorns, wincing in pain, closing his eyes as he did so. When he finished he examined the thorns and discovered that they were a mix of shards of glass and sharp metal.

"What the hell…" he muttered and looked around the sea of glass thorns and barbed wire which were glittering in the sun. He paled, how the hell was he meant to get out of here? He couldn't exactly walk through them, he'd be ripped to shreds by the time he even got less than halfway through it all. Then again he was wearing Doc Martians so he could save his legs, but he didn't exactly like the idea of having glass and metal sticking into his stomach and even more _tender_ _areas_ that will probably be scarred for life…his future partner would most likely be disgusted with him.

"Why not ask for help, Alice?" the voice whispered in his ear again. This time Arthur chose to ignore it, even though he couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched from behind. It was kind of…

"Disturbing." the German accent finished for him, this time it was much louder. The English teen turned round and came face-to-face with the owner of the voice. The stranger was tall and muscular, he had pale skin, blood-red eyes, and platinum hair. He also wore black Doc Martians as well, but they had crimson laces instead. He had black skinny jeans that were ripped in several places, there was a silver metal chain dangling from where the belt was meant to go and at the end of it was a bright red maple leaf, the albino wore a black shirt that went down to his elbows. On his left arm was a midnight blue fingerless arm warmer, and his right was a midnight red one, his right hand nails were painted black whereas on the other they were blood-red. He wore the same mask as Arthur along with a black leather collar round his neck, which had a small silver chain attached to it and at the end was the same black and silver cross that the mad Italian wore round his slim, pale neck. The man seemed to have several scars on his face, and he held a wide, arrogant grin filled with rows of sharp teeth. Arthur noted how he wore silver cat ears with a matching tail. …Weird.

"Who are you?" Arthur asked, looking away from those blood filled eyes.

The man smiled. "You're a new Alice aren't you? It's easy to tell because you don't recognise me. Most people in this maddening world know me or have at least heard of me." the German began to walk around the teen - doing the exact same as the polar bear, he ignored the question - just like a wild animal would to it's prey, closing in so it had nowhere else to go. After several minutes of this Arthur began to feel uneasy. What the hell was the meaning of this?

A cold hand met with his collar bone and the teen jumped slightly at the touch, there was a small chuckle. "I only want to read the tags." the stranger held the dog tags in his hand and read what was on them. "Hm…there was another Alice from Britain, she didn't really last long." he muttered after looking at the British flag, then he looked confused. "You have an owner already?" he asked, looking up. Blood red eyes met emerald.

_Red and Green should not be seen._

"Er…I guess so." Arthur answered, not really sure with what was happening.

The albino let go of the tags and pulled away looking down at the teen. "What do you mean by that? Either you have an owner or you don't. Normally new Alice's need to find their owner or vice versa, and seeing as you don't know anything about me, it's weird that you already have one." again he began to walk around Arthur who wasn't beginning to get just a tiny bit annoyed.

And no, that wasn't sarcasm.

"Where the hell am I?" Arthur asked, getting tired of being polite to people who weren't even going to answer a simple question. "And what does it mean by '_claimed Alice'_? It's not as if I'm some sort of pet you know."

The grin widened, showing more teeth, the Brit felt a shiver go down his spine. "Well you're an Alice, of course you're a _pet_." he leaned close, the smell of beer and maple syrup reached the teens nostrils, causing him to feel sick and take a step back, snagging his jeans on the thorns. The strange German didn't seem to notice. "Everyone needs to have an Alice, and every Alice needs to have an owner. That's just the way it is." he leaned back and stretched as though to give the sandy blonde a chance to take what he said in.

He yawned and looked down at a very confused Arthur. "Oh, and about your first question." he leaned back down suddenly, everything became very serious. "I'll tell you this once, and once only. You are an _Alice_, do you understand?" with a sigh Arthur nodded, he didn't know why he was being called '_Alice_' it's not as if he was a girl or something. Saying that he was getting slightly pissed off was the understatement of the century. Big time.

The stranger however smiled as though he read the younger teens thought and found it amusing. "Good, now that we've got that sorted out. Let me explain this to you. This place is known as _Wonderland_. Weird name I know but just go along with it." the English nodded again to show he understood, the mixed look of confusion and anger was clear on his face. The German continued to carried on "For some reason or another, everyone here needs their own Alice. No one knows exactly why, some think it's because we need to have a soul mate and our chosen Alice is that. Or we're lonely and need someone to have for company. Some people just don't like their Alice's, or vice versa. Kitty is a fantastic example, he abuses his Alice but that's because he's a sick vodka drinking bastard who wants someone else's Alice." the cat paused. "Sorry, getting sidetracked, anyways, the main thing is, when you get an Alice they're more or less your property. You can do whatever you like to them. Many people choose to abuse their Alice in so many ways it makes me sick just thinking about it." deep red eyes were narrowed down to slits, he lowered his voice, it now sounded intimidating and threatening. "And do you know what the worst part is?" Arthur shook his head feeling suddenly afraid of this mad man. "The fact that most of the sick bastards here actually _torture_ their Alice's, they treat them as though they weren't fit enough to even be breathing in the same air as everyone else. They treat them worse than animals, and do you know what? _They get away with it_." he spat into the ground, his voice now filled with pure hate and venom. "It's disgusting, you wouldn't dare treat a dog like that, but a human being who has a name and feelings?" he shook his head as though in defeat. "I wish it wasn't like this, but shit happens I suppose." he let out a sigh.

For several minutes the two fell into an awkward silence, until the man stretched and looked down at the fifteen year old again, those crimson orbs observing the teen.

"So you have no idea who your owner is?" he asked.

Arthur sighed… again "No, I don't even know why I'm here. I was standing at the bus stop with-"

He stopped and looked around noticing that for the first time since he arrived in this weird and screwed up world, the insane Italian wasn't with him. He turned around on the spot just to double check. The teen felt slightly sad by this. He didn't really care much about the Italian seeing as he was always there, but now that he wasn't the emerald eyed teenager felt kind of…lonely. When the Brit stopped he looked up at the strange man, who gave him the familiar look that everyone else did. It was a mix of pity and disgust. Arthur chose to ignore it.

"Who were you standing at the bus stop with?" the albino asked looking away, taking off the cat ears to pull off a multicoloured caterpillar that was vain enough to think it could blend in with the platinum cat ears, then placed them back on his head, making it seem as though he actually did have feline ears.

The fifteen year old hesitated, deciding whether or not telling the stranger about his mental illness. No, screw it. He didn't give a damn what people thought of him anymore. Closing his eyes he decided to tell. "I'm a shizo and there's this creepy Italian kid I've been able to see for as long as I can remember, normally he follows me wherever I go but it's pretty obvious that he's not here."

Opening his eyes once more, he paled slightly. Those blood filled eyes were narrowed down to dangerous slits, the owner of those eyes looked like he was about to massacre a whole town. "That Italian…what did he look like?"

"A bit taller than me, looked like he got murdered, buried and then dug up again. Brown eyes, reddish brown hair that was really messy and there was an annoying curl that stuck out. Oh, and he had

the same cross as you." the Brit eyed the albino suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

The German looked down at the emerald eyed teen as though deciding whether or not he should tell him what the problem was. Instead he looked away and muttered; "Never mind."

Arthur didn't believe him. He knew there was something wrong, something not right. What was this stranger hiding? Did he know that crazy Italian? The familiar cross on both their necks pretty much proved it, then again it could just be a coincidence, lots of people went around wearing the same one. Crosses were just many of the thousands of symbols people wore, after all the world was a big place, so there'd be plenty of room for a number people to wear the cross. Goths, Catholics, Christians…the list goes on.

Then why couldn't he get rid of the feeling that it was somehow connected?

He looked up to ask the strange albino another question, however to his surprise the man wasn't there. He looked around him, and after looking past the sea of metal and glass thorns, the English teenager spotted the stranger past the deadly obstacle, casually leaning against a dead tree, licking the back of his hand which was oozing a familiar crimson liquid.

"How the bloody hell did you get over there?" Arthur shouted, half shocked, half pissed off with the fact that he was now stuck in the middle of thorns with glass tips. Oh God this was ever so much fun!

The albino looked up and grinned. "Oh, I just jumped." he replied, then turned around and walked away as if to show that was the end of the conversation.

"Hey!" the emerald eyed teen cried out. "How did you do that?" the strange man continued to walk as though ignoring him. "Could you at least tell me your name?" Arthur asked desperately, as though being given the name would help him in some small way.

The man who was now at the edge of the dark woods stopped, then turned and faced the teen. "Just call me Prussian." Prussian then turned back and continued walking into the woods, a minute later Arthur could hear him yell; "By the way, I suggest you go see Hatters."

After several minutes of silence, the teenager was now sure that Prussian wasn't going to return. Glaring at the deadly thorns, he thought about what the silver eared cat had said. He jumped did he? Well if that strange man could do it, Arthur was pretty sure he can as well. Then again what if it went wrong? Oh well, there was only one way of knowing. Without hesitation the teen went as far back as he could without hitting the thorns, ran and then jumped.

**Mwahaha, a cliff-hanger D **

**Although I doubt anyone is reading this . Oh well, it's always good to spam my own inbox with emails saying that I've uploaded yet another chapter.**

**Reviews etc. are welcome.**


	3. A Very Sane Tea Party

In one of the many clearings hidden deep inside the Dark Woods was a sea of thorns. Although these everyday, harmful plants looked pretty normal and innocent laying across the forest floor, they were far from it. It was as though some sick, twisted individual had decided to gather all the barbed wire he could find, and glue shards of glass onto it. This disturbed creature then stuck the metal and glass into the ground in the middle of the woods. If you look carefully, there were dead animals tangle in the wire. Small mice, foxes and even fawns were found underneath the deadly trap, the flesh slowly being stripped away from the body to reveal muscles, guts and bleached white bones beneath. There were also a number of different birds trapped, large or small with their wings ripped to shreds, to show they made a vain attempt of trying to fly out of the wires and glass, only causing the death trap to tighten

As Arthur observed the scene before him, covered in blood and picking out the last of the glass and metal, he wondered how the hell he lived through it all.

After making the brave decision of randomly jumping into the sea of glass and barbed wire - along with the skeletons of dead creatures, their bones sticking out making it even more deadly - he realised something at the very last minute; he didn't have cat instinct built into him. Therefore the teenager landed waist deep into the thorns made for some sick game, and had the pleasure of having his thighs, tender areas, stomach and arms plunged into a mix of smashed glass and barbed wire.

The teen was forced to walked through the death trap, ripping his jeans, slicing his legs, waist and man hood. He cried out in pain, tears streaming from his emerald eyes. After adjusting to the stinging pain, he gritted his teeth - tears still spilling - and continued his dangerous journey. Halfway through the sea, he lost his footing and face planted the ground, barbed wire tearing through his face, neck and chest. After lying on the earthy ground - trying to pretend he didn't notice the body of a dead mouse - holding his breath and biting his tongue as to not cry out in complete horror when he felt one particularly large piece of glass go through his left cheek, a copper tasting liquid filled his mouth. He spent about ten minutes trying to stand up without making anything worse, although he could feel glass sticking into his back, and his hair snagging on the wire ripping it out of his scalp leaving a fiery burn in his skull and chunks of sandy blonde hair in the death trap. When he finally stood up fully, he let out a whimper and cried even more. His body was screaming out in pain, he was tired and nauseous from the loss of blood.

And now he was lying on his stomach a few metres away from the Death Trap, the smell of earth filling his nostrils was almost heavenly, as though it was a sign that he was definitely alive. Not liking the idea of encouraging the glass and metal that was embedded in his back to be pushed any deeper, he lay on the ground waiting,hoping, _praying_ that someone might walk by. But after around half an hour, the bleeding teen decided this was not going to happen, so he stood up, wincing and holding back tears in the process.

"Okay…that smug cat-eared bastard said something about a Hatter…" Arthur muttered to himself, wiping the tears off his face with the back of his hand, along with blood, and followed the same sandy path that led into the woods.

_._._._

It never occurred to him where he was going, maybe he didn't want to know where he was going, maybe he just wanted to just go wherever his feet took him hoping it would take him home.

Home.

Did he want to go home? Did he _really_? A small part of him said; '_Yes please, I'd like to see Mum and Dad again. And my brothers and sisters, and my new baby brother._' But another part, one that spoke the truth was saying; '_Fuck no. Why should you? They kicked you out, their own _son_. They said it was because they couldn't deal with you and can't afford you anymore. That's a load of shit, lets face it. The only reason why they kicked you out was because they wanted another son that wasn't such a screw up as you. They replaced you. And you _know_ it._'

He winced at how harsh, yet true that thought was. They didn't want him, they never did, for as long as the teen could remember, his mum never wanted anything to do with him, his father was away working so the two saw very little of each other, and with his elder sister being ten years older than him, and his two brothers five and seven years older, they had friends. With a small sigh he continued to walk through the dead trees, ignoring the pain that was shooting in his knees and thighs whenever he took a step. There was actually no need for him to go back anyways, they'd only reject him a second time, and that was something he couldn't deal with.

Something at the back of Arthur's head whispered to him quietly, as though it were a deep secret between two best friends; '_There's always suicide_.' His heart missed a beat and lungs seemed to have forgotten how to respire.

Suicide.

He always told himself that he'd never take his life away unless under serious circumstances. But the idea of getting rid of all your worries, to rid all the people you cared about the problems you have caused. It only took one slice with a razor, wait a few minutes, and then it would all be over. The thought of it was very tempting. What did he have to live for? Being kicked out of your own home without any qualifications, most likely being trapped in a dead end job, or living out in the streets asking people you don't even know for only a few pence that wouldn't even get you the cheapest thing out of the worst take-a-way. It didn't sound very convincing. He looked down at his wrist, which seemed like it was crying out for a razor to slice through the thin layer of skin and veins as though it were butter. He could do it now while he was wandering through this mad world, no one would see him, no one would notice if they did, and best of all, no one would _care_.

_It only took one slice…_

Arthur froze and his blood ran cold. How could he even be thinking of such a thought? It was horrible, it was sickening it was…weak. Taking your life away…no, he wouldn't do it. He let his hand fall limp by his side and let out a shaky breath that he didn't even know he was holding. The teen let out a little chuckle. Suicide. It was bizarre, there was no way he'd actually go along and do it.

But he was still considering it…

_._._._._

After what seemed like hours of trekking through dead trees and once the agonising pain now dulled slightly, the emerald eyed teen could hear what sounded like…music? He continued to follow the sound, until voices of laughter soon followed it. Curious, the emerald eyed teen followed the path until he came across a clearing. If there was one word to describe how he was feeling it would be…surprised.

In the middle of the clearing was a number of different tables lined up against each other under different coloured sheets, this one huge table seemed to take up the whole length of the clearing. Many of the tablets were of different lengths and heights, many would be a few centimetres lower than the one next to it, others would be several inches taller. The same could also go for the seating arrangement. Arthur noticed how some of them were stacked on one another to reach the tall tables, some were stools for children, there was also towers of different pillows where the chairs began to run out, replaced by moth eaten sofas and chairs that could only be found next to a roaring fire in a huge mansion or expensive five star hotels.

On top of this weird table was dozens of mismatched tea sets which varied in size, colour, and times. There were at least a hundred multicoloured tea pots, all steaming, waiting for the clear brown liquid to be poured out of them. Plates were stacked with cupcakes and biscuits, all covered in icing sugar and topped with sprinkles or cherries. There was also a number of rainbow cakes which were not yet eaten, the bright pink and blue glace icing dripping off the sides. The glass bowls of fruit contained blood red and grassy green apples, brightly coloured oranges and bananas, next to these bowls were small dishes filled to the brim of rosy red strawberries, blueberries which looked like they were going to burst and raspberries which were blushing deeply. Also there were bowls of sugar and jugs of milk found in various places around the table. There was also a battered CD player, which was most likely the source of the music. The whole thing looked so unrealistic to be true.

At the top end of the tea party, several people were seated. As Arthur walked to take a closer look, he noticed there was a man who looked like he was in his mid twenties with tanned muscular skin and dark brown curly hair, which was topped off by a single small curl with split ends. He wore a simple white baggy t-shirt which hung off of his frame, and black three quarter-lengths, this man decided not to wear any shoes, which as a result left his perfect feet with scars from various animals trying to take a bite out of him, most of which looked like snake bites. The stranger had his head in his arms on the table and appeared to be asleep. Arthur noted how he wore chocolate mousse coloured mouse ears.

The teenager sitting next to him drinking an empty cup was giggling to himself. He was tall, had slightly tanned skin which had blood splatters here and there along with a few cuts, his face was long and held a stubble on his chin. On top of his head were a pair of moth eaten blue bunny ears, his hair was the colour of the sun and was wavy, light reflecting off of it even though they were under a load of tree branches and the deep purple began to creep up on the pale blue. His eyes were a mix of midnight blue and aqua, the emotion that was held in those eyes was similar to the one with the Italian, although there was something else which was very well hidden, it looked like…sadness?

Arthur looked up at the teenager at the head of the table and froze. It was like looking in a mirror.

His reflection looked the same age as him and was probably about an inch shorter. The boy seemed to have dyed his hair bright green, on top of which was a purple head band with a small top hat glued onto it, there was a slip of paper pinned on it which just said; 10/6. His eyes were wider than Arthur's and were a weird cloudy green, the same colour as mint ice-cream. A blood stained plaster covered his left cheek. His skin was a creamy colour, only a shade paler than the original. He wore black and green trainers, baggy jeans which were a faded navy blue, there were various stains on them , most of which were deep red, and they were ripped at the shin and calf, revealing deep scars. The shirt was a simple black cotton v-neck, several badges were pinned, most of them were random tea pots or little sayings, one read in black italics against a purple background; _'Why is a raven like a writing desk?' _another read; _'I think it's time for tea.'_. His right wrist and palm were bandaged, along with his middle finger, the wounds were still leaking blood. Around his neck he wore a chain with a number of charms or random objects hanging off of them, there was also a mask the same to Arthur's - he was beginning to wonder what it was for - and a tattoo on his neck, it was lime green with the letter 'H' made out of different swirls joined to together.

Everyone fell silent when they noticed Arthur - minus the sleeping mouse - but the music carried on as though nothing was going on.

"_Farewell this blackened eye, you learned your lessons falling down, far behind. And tracing footsteps home. Despite your lack of pride, you wore your imperfections well, dignified, and spend your time alone. Trace your footsteps home…"_

After several seconds of silence, the mint eyed one said; "Bloody 'ell ma'e, wo' 'appened to ya?" his voice sounded similar to Arthur's, but the lime haired teen had a cockney accent.

Kind of disturbing in so many ways. He was beginning to wonder how high he was now…

The emerald eyed teen flushed when the Londoner looked like he was getting bored of waiting for an answer, so he took a random tea pot and poured himself a cup of the brown liquid.

"Hm…I've nevah me' a mu'e…" he muttered to himself, the teen with the moth eaten ears sniggered at that and choked on his imaginary drink. No one took any notice.

"I'm not a mute." Arthur snapped back, and cried out in agony as the wound in his tongue reopened again after healing a bit in the short time he walked through the woods. He automatically covered his mouth with his hand as though it might help stop the pain, but it was all in vain as the copper tasting liquid filled his mouth and leaked in between his fingers, a scarlet liquid staining the deep grass causing the two colours to clash.

_Red and Green should not be seen._

" 'Oly shi' guv!" the cockney accent exclaimed, right next to his ear. "Seriously, wo' the 'ell 'appened to ya? Did someone try to give ya a Glasgow Kiss?" the other teen pulled crimson stained hands away from the leaking mouth. He winced at the sight, it wasn't as bad as some others he's seen, but nonetheless this wasn't very pretty. There was a burst of laughter heard from behind.

"Shu' the 'ell up ya li'le wanker, or I'll se' them twins on ya!" the mint eyed teen snapped at the giggling teen who was currently licking what looked like sugar from one of the china bowls. The Londoner sighed then turned to the other Brit who was crying, causing the blood and dirt on his face to run. "…Awrigh' guv, le's ge' ya sor'ed…" he helped the wounded teen sit on one of the many chairs that occupied the random table.

Arthur was in so much pain, he really didn't expect this to happen to him. How long was he here for? Was it a few hours, a few days? He wasn't certain about the time. Actually, he wasn't certain about anything anymore. Was this a dream? Was this reality? Out of confusion and pain, the English teen choked on a sob.

What did he do to deserve this? It was a normal day, he was only waiting for the bus that lead to nowhere. And now here he was, being nursed by someone who looked like his exact double. Well…not exact double, there were a few minor differences. The eyes were different shades of green, hair colour, height, skin colour…amount of blood on their faces.

Arthur giggled to himself for no reason.

He felt something being pushed against his hand, and he looked down. It was a glass of what looked like tea, although it was slightly syrupy. Arthur looked up, the other teen was holding out another glass of what he guessed was water, although there was a strong smell coming from it and was slightly syrupy.

"Drink this, wai' a couple o' seconds then drink tha' other glass, go' I' ma'e?"

Arthur nodded, then unconsciously gulped the liquid down in one go. He instantly wanted to through up, the taste was horrible and it clung to the back of his mouth, his whole throat was burning, and the cut in his cheek and tongue. Oh God, it stung, it stung so much. He let out a cry, more tears spilling out. He could feel a body pressed against him, then felt the left over pieces of glass in his back being pulled out. The emerald eyed teen thrashed, trying to get rid of whatever it was causing this horrible sensation.

Soon after he felt something like a glass being forced into his mouth, unconsciously, and dazed by the pain he opened his mouth and a sweet syrupy liquid filled his mouth. Seconds later all pain that was felt went away, Arthur lay across the table, panting and still crying from the experience.

"I didn' expec' ya to reac' like tha' guv." the cockney accent said, soon followed by maniac laughter.

The sandy blonde sat up and held his head in his hands, shaking slightly. A cold hand touched his collarbone and he jumped slightly. "I only wanna see them tags guv." the teen in front of him softly. After several minutes he said darkly. "Did ya owner do tha' to ya?"

His head snapped up, the same look that was in the German's eyes where clear in those minty eyes. They were filled with pure _hate._

"No…" Arthur muttered. "I don't even know who my owner is…"

Hate quickly turned into humour. "Wha' do ya mean by tha' guv? I' says 'ere ya 'ave an owner, ya can' be tellin' me ya jus' randomly appeared 'ere withou' an owner…"

The sandy blonde nodded.

There was a chuckle. "Alice's don' fall from the sky an' already 'ave an owner, tha's impossible."

"This one did."

For a few minutes there was complete silence - the music seemed to stop as if wanting to join in the dramatic scene - minus the random outburst of giggling from the blue bunny eared teen, or the odd snore from the sleeping man.

"Ya actually serious?" Arthur sighed and nodded, he looked up. The teen in front of him looked somewhat…_scared_. "…I think ya should leave."

"What?"

"Leave! Now! We're wai'in' for theh ke'le to boil!" he pulled the English teenager to his feet and began to push up towards a random path into the woods. "We are busy, very, very busy. There's lotsa riddles to solve, tea to make. Ya know 'ow I' is." he pushed the confused teen into the woods who stumbled.

"Fucking bloody hell." he said to himself, suddenly there was the sound of music again - one of the mad men must've turned it on - the lyrics echoing after him -

"_Remember when you ran away and I got on my knees and begged you not to leave because I'd go berserk? Well. You left me anyhow…"_

- and when he turned round again, the one with blue rabbit ears was laughing hysterically, eating what the young Brit hoped was sugar, the mouse remained asleep on the table as though nothing was out of the ordinary. However his reflection was curled up on one of the sofas, rocking back and forth slowly, muttering to himself;

"_They're coming to take me away ha-ha. They're coming to take me away ho-ho hee-hee ha-ha to the Funny Farm where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats…"_

It was kind of… sad.

Arthur turned back to the now dark woods, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to risk it.

_._._._._

It was cold…very cold. His breath came out in little clouds of mist whenever he breathed out, and after walking around for hours, the pale blue moon was now setting and the peachy sun bled its way into the midnight sky. A luminous moth fluttered past and landed on something that was transparent and bright. Arthur bent down and picked it up, the moth flew away as if to give the teen a better look at the shroom.

It looked very much like red jelly, and wobbled like it. Then teen smiled to himself and shook the strange but fascinating shroom until it wobbled from side to side, not breaking apart. Suddenly realising what he was doing, he blushed to himself feeling very childish.

Better get to the serious matter.

He thought about whether eating the shroom or not. The last couple of times something bad had happened. Then again he didn't care what happened to him anymore, he's already been through pain in this really screwed up world…_Wonderland_ as Prussian had called it. With a sigh he opened his mouth and popped in the jelly shroom. Unconsciously he began to savour the taste and texture of it. It seemed like it would refuse to let him chew it, so instead he had to suck on the jelly like texture, the taste of strawberries and raspberries taking over the taste of blood and that foul tasting liquid.

Once the whole shroom dissolved in his mouth, one of the top branches of the trees creaked and snapped. Arthur looked up to see the said piece of wood falling. He let out a groan. "Oh bloody typical-"

It went dark.

-.-.-

**One more chapter to go guys, and this time it's actually an ending I love 3**

**I'd like to say thanks to Creepy 69 Doll and Skadiyoko for reviewing (:**

**Skadiyoko - I agree with you so much, he is an amazing writer(although I never knew they never were a he XD -face palm- ) I wanna know what happens at the end of Docile and Flawless as well D:**

**Anyways~ Reviews etc. etc. are welcome~ (can't stress the last part out enough XDD)**


	4. Waking Up

Arthur woke up to the smell of roses and freshly cut grass. He made the first attempt of opening his eyes only to have the sun blind him, causing the teen to squeeze them shut and turn his head away. After making the second attempt of opening his eyes in the shade, he sat up and realised he was using a rose bush as a bed, ignoring that he began to examine his current surroundings.

He was in a maze, but instead of the usual tall hedges there were rose bushes going in different directions. All of which were crystal white; pure and innocent. They were perfect in every way, each bush had the same amount of roses, were the same height - going up to Arthur's waist -, none of the roses were withering away or a different shade from the rest and not a single leaf or thorn was out of place.

It was then that he noticed the top of his head was aching, he lifted a hand to the abused area and winced in pain when his fingers came in contact with warm blood and clotted hair, he pulled his had away to examine his fingers which were covered in the dark red substance. With a sigh the teen slid off the bush, and looked at the damage he made to it.

There was a dent were he lay across it, many of the crimson roses were crushed and were dripping a red substance, clashing against the vivid green leaves…

_Red and Green should not be seen._

"Wait…" Arthur said to himself, and walked towards the bleeding roses. Gently, he picked one up, the red liquid ran down his hand, the arm warmer soaking up the blood. This was by far the most weirdest thing that had happened to him. Roses weren't meant to bleed, he figured that plants must feel some kind of pain, but this was just beyond twisted though. These must be serious drugs he's taking…

"My, my little Alice, look at what you've done." the familiar German accent chuckled.

The Brit looked up to see Prussian pick away at a rose, ignoring the blood spilling onto his hands. "You know that you've just committed a serious crime." he smirked. "Bleeding any rose, especially those that belong to the King, can get you executed." crimson eyes looked into emerald green. "Not to mention all the other crime's you've made." he let the bleeding petals fall to the ground where they splattered on the grass. "You do know that you're being taken to court?"

"What?" Arthur asked, shocked. "Why the bloody hell am I being taken to court? And what crimes have I supposedly done?" a small breeze rolled by taking away the still dripping petals, the blonde tried to ignore how disturbing it was.

"Well, you randomly appeared here with an owner already, one who you've never met but somehow you managed to have a tag that claims you have one. So that's lying." the albino walked around the teen. "You disturbed Hatters tea party, and although no one actually gives a damn about it seeing as most people do interrupt it, you look similar to him, so you're being accused of identity theft. You're eating mushrooms which Alice's are forbidden to eat. And, as I said earlier, you bled these roses red." he leaned down and grinned. "Any questions, Alice?"

The sandy haired teen backed away. "Can you stop calling me Alice?"

"But that's your name." Prussian said, "Whatever name you had before, you can just forget about it." the German took a cigarette out of his jean pocket and lit it, he took a drag and blew the smoke into the wind. After several minutes silence, he spoke again, this time more softly. "I'm sorry, really I am. But shit happens and that's how things are." he looked behind the blonde, sighed, dropped his half finished fix and stubbed it out with a foot. "Well, I better get out of your way."

"Why?" the emerald eyed teen asked, confused with what was going on.

The albino turned away, jumped over a bush and walked into the forest. "Maybe if you turned around, you'll find the answer Alice." he answered.

The feeling of dread slowly bled it's way into his body. The sound of angry voices in the distance could be heard, he turned around, at least a dozen men dressed in red and black amour entered the maze trying to get to the teen. Many of them had to turn back, Arthur couldn't help but smile at their stupidity, it was rather funny to see a group of grown men, wearing armour to get lost in a simple maze.

One of the men got to the teen first. He looked like he was in his early twenties. His face was round and feminine with milky pale skin, and seemed to have a scowl etched into his face. Smooth pale yellow hair fell down to his chin, underneath strands of hair were two vibrant green eyes narrowed down dangerously, they had a look that said - '_If you dare to piss me off, I _will _shoot you without hesitating._' Which was _very_ reassuring. He wore black leather boots with laces - red hearts sewn in the leather up the side - which went halfway up his thigh, black skinny jeans and a red long sleeved collared shirt with black hearts pinned on. There was also a shiny red heart shaped locket at the end of metallic black chain, he too also wore the same mask round his neck. He was probably the leader seeing as he was the only one who carried a gun and didn't wear any armour.

"Are you Alice?" he asked - his accent sounded a mix of German and French…Arthur assumed it was a Swiss accent - pointing the gun at the teen.

Guessing that he would be shot if he didn't answer, the teen sounded very manly as he squeaked; "Y-yes."

The man eyed him suspiciously, then looked over at the still bleeding rose bush. "I take it that was you that did that, yes?" when Arthur nodded, the man poked him with the gun. "You'd better come with me, you're late for court."

"I didn't know," Arthur said.

The Swiss rolled his eyes in anger. "I don't care for your excuses. You're trial will be held in ten minutes, you'll be late if you don't come with me." He turned and walked from the teen who followed.

Arthur was about to open his mouth to ask why the hell he was having to be taken to court but decided against it, knowing that his question would go unanswered, he figured people didn't respond to his questions was because he was below everyone else. As he was being taken through a metal arch made of metal with poison ivy twisting itself in and out of the frame, he let out a sigh. He wanted nothing more than to get out of this place. He didn't know the rules, he didn't know what an Alice was supposed to do and not do. Why he was being put on trial was beyond him, as far as he was concerned he didn't do anything wrong, it doesn't matter what Prussian or anyone else says. When they walked through another metal arch - this time with white roses - Arthur froze.

In front of him was a castle. There were five towers that were at least half a mile high, all of which held a black flag with four blood red hearts on it. The bricks were a deep grey - almost black, bright red roses with dark green leaves and thorns grew up the sides and in and out the cracks. Arthur couldn't help but think it was something out of a twisted Disney film.

"Come on!" the man hissed at Arthur and yanked at his arm, pulling him away from the scenery before him, much to his disappointment.

The teen glared at the blonde, but followed anyway, not liking the look of the gun. The couple continued walking towards the castle, passing several strange people in the process. There was a tall man who had silver hair and violet eyes - for some reason wore a periwinkle scarf - walking next to him - whom Arthur assumed was his Alice - was a boy who looked Chinese, his slightly tanned skin was bruised in several places, he also wore bandages on his arms and neck. The boy glared daggers at the man, his eyes filled with hate and anger. The Brit had a feeling it wasn't going to end well for the violet eyed man. There was also a woman with wide brown eyes who had her chocolate coloured hair kept back with a cloth and a pink flower. She held a small child in her arms - one that looked oddly familiar to the strange Italian -, Arthur wasn't sure whether it was a girl or a boy as it wore a pale green dress.

When the two entered the building, the Asian in white from earlier pushed passed them. "Sorry." he said quickly. "But I'll be late!" he turned and fled down the corridor as though his life depended on it.

Arthur could hear a sigh next to him, he turned and faced the Swiss. "He's always like that." he said as the two continued walking down the black and red tiled floor. "That clock's been broken for years, he still thinks it's quarter to three in the afternoon." He turned down a different corridor, the walls and floor were black with blood red roses pinned to the walls. The emerald eyed teen reached out for one, only for his hand to be slapped. He looked at the man who glared at him. "Your hand is still covered in blood, you wouldn't want to make the roses bleed again." he smiled sickly.

A shiver ran down his spine as he followed the Swiss.

The man opened a dark wooden door, and entered into a room, having a bad feeling, the teen followed after him. The room was large and circular. Rows upon rows of dark scarred wooden benches ran around the room up to ceiling -every seat was filled with a number of weird people - but it stopped at the door. However, a certain part of the rows had a small wooden wall, cornering it off to the rest - Arthur assumed this was the Jury of some sort. In the middle of the room was an alter, which was at least four metres high was painted in black and red checkers, the stool - which had a ladder built into two of the legs - looked like it would go backwards the second someone sat in it, the legs had splinters in them as if to show that it had indeed toppled back in the past.

On top of this stool was a man. The man had deep brown hair with a strand of hair sticking up, his skin was the same as Arthur's, he had a mole on his cheek (he couldn't help but think of that scene from _Austin Powers _) , dark brown eyes which glared at him and a thin line for a mouth. He wore a long black coat which would normally go to his knees, but instead fell down the back of the stool, his shirt was neatly ironed and black, with a couple red hearts pinned on, his hands wore delicate black leather gloves imprinted with a black heart and floral pattern, matte black trousers were hidden mostly by black leather boots with the same floral pattern imprinted on. And, just like many people, wore the same mask along with a silver chained necklace with a red treble clef at the end. He held the air of authority.

"You're twenty seconds late." he said, his accent similar to Prussian.

"I'm sorry," the Swiss said, then glared at Arthur. "But this Alice was taking it's time."

Deep brown eyes narrowed. "Is that so?" he pointed to the small stool. "Sit there."

The teen did as he told, shaking slightly as he did so, the feeling of everyone staring at him. When he sat down, the door opened again. Arthur turned to see who a man - who looked like he should be in college - walked in. He had sun kissed skin and eyes the colour of sapphires hidden behind rectangle glasses, his hair was multiple shades of gold and yellow - there was an annoying cowlick and strand of hair sticking up. The man wore - for some odd reason - a black leather bomber jacket with blood red hearts pinned on it, his shirt too was red with black hearts, skinny black jeans were hidden under black leather boots with a mix of red and black hearts sewn up the side. He wore a blood coloured pocket watch at the end of a deep grey chain that stopped above his stomach, there was also the familiar mask and a red chain with a crown -that held the two familiar colours - at the end which stopped above his stomach. He too held the air of authority, however it wasn't intimidating, unlike the man who sat on top of the dangerous stool, who let out a sigh and looked at the new comer with a tired look on his face.

"You're late again." he said, observing the man as he walked up to the stool and leaned against it with a Hollywood smile plastered on his face.

"I didn't know until five minutes ago about it." the blonde said innocently in a strong American accent. "I almost choked on my food." before the German could answer back, the American had already walked away from where he was leaning.

He walked up to Arthur, who looked up at the newcomer. The man tilted the teens chin up with his hand delicately, as though examining the younger boy's face. After a while he simply said;. "My, my, aren't you a pretty Alice?" The English teen blushed furiously at the comment and pulled away. The American chuckled and walked away from the teen, and after not finding an empty seat he pulled himself up onto the edge of a row and sat there, not noticing that a few people got up for him.

Rolling his eyes at the blonde, the German let out another sigh and turned back to the small teen on the stool. He sounded like he would rather be anywhere else but here. "State your name."

"…My real name or the one I have now?" he asked, there were a few snickers from the rows of people. Arthur flushed from embarrassment.

"Don't be so stupid." the man snapped. "What name do you _think_ I'm talking about?"

Arthur sighed. "Fine, my name is Arthur Kirkland." there were several gasps from the crowd.

"That's another charge." the German said, writing something on a piece of stained paper with a black and crimson quill. "Alice's aren't supposed to tell anyone their true name."

"I didn't know." Arthur said in defence.

"Alice's are also not allowed to speak when not spoken to." more writing.

The Brit glared daggers at the man. How dare he. How bloody _dare he _speak to him as though he were a child. For as long as he could remember, people have always spoken down to him, like he wasn't even worth the shit beneath their shoes. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"Now, onto the crimes you have committed." the man, once again, sounded bored as he read the list. "You've stolen the identity of Hatters, bled his Highness' roses, you've been eating mushrooms which every Alice is forbidden to eat, you went against the red and green rue multiple times, you told everyone your true name, you spoke back to me, and worst of all you arrive here and already have an owner." eyes peered from behind the paper. "Do you plead guilty or not guilty?"

"Not guilty." Arthur answered.

The smell of sweet smoke and tea filled the teens nostrils as a bandaged hand clasped onto his shoulder, and cold skin rested against the side of his neck. "I's obvious tha' 'e's lyin' inni'?" the hatter asked the judge innocently. "I mean, wha' are the chances of someone lookin' jus' like me?" he smiled innocently. "'e musta stolen me face." Another hand slinked it's way round a shoulder, bony fingers gripped the blonde's chin and held it in place, the other leaned to the side so the two were now cheek to cheek. "See? 'e took me identi'y, I've always looked like this."

The madman pulled away, and before Arthur could rub his now bruised skin, the Swiss appeared from behind the altar, no sooner had he done so, he began to poke Arthur in the side with the point of his gun.

"He bled the roses red. I saw it happen." the point was pushed further, causing the teen to gasp. "He did it on purpose, he made a wound in the back of his head and then made the roses bleed." the Swiss turned round and faced the sunny blonde. "I wouldn't lie your Highness, I did see it happen."

He pulled the gun away from the teen, who went to hold it, hoping the pain would ease only to have a pale hand with black nails grabbed his wrist. "I saw him eating the mushrooms as well." A slinky German accent said right next to his ear. "I told him he shouldn't, but he did. I'm sure it was a red and purple one he ate, but he could've eaten more." Arthur turned to face Prussian, only to discover no one was there.

"And everyone in this room heard you speak your name." the faraway voice from the top of the stool said, "Also, everyone heard you speak back to me, and I'm sure there's plenty of witnesses to see you go against the red and green rule." the man leaned down grinning sadistically, making Arthur shiver in his much smaller seat, wide emerald green eyes looking into deep chocolate ones. "Who do you think you are? Turning up here claiming you have an owner, going around stealing people's identities and bleeding roses. Tut-tut, I would have thought Alice's were better than that." he read over the notes, his smile turning into a grin. "Well, well, well Alice. I'm afraid we have no choice but to _execute_ you."

The teen paled. He felt sick, oh God he felt sick. The room filled with laughter and shouting. Many people were telling the teen what they thought of him, others were shouting how they could execute him; _hanging, burning, drowning_. It all sounded so… _painful_.

All of a sudden, the room fell silent.

It was like this for a minute, Arthur looked around the whole court to see what was going on, when he noticed everyone was looking at the same place, he turned round to see the American still sitting on his seat at the edge of a bench, a smug grin was plastered all over his face as he looked up at the German.

The sunny blonde began. "I said-"

"I heard what you said!" the judge spat, he pointed a finger accusingly at the English teen. "Why him? _Why_?" he demanded. "Out of all the Alice's we have, why him?"

The sunny blonde looked to the side, avoiding the glare of the other man. "I…I don't know how to explain…" he said. "It's just…it feels like he should belong to me."

A small blush appeared on Arthur's cheeks as the American said that. He _belongs to _him? A complete _stranger_? As much as it was disturbing, the teen couldn't help but feel something towards the man, he turned a deeper shade of red at that thought. He wasn't gay, there was no way in hell he was…then again…why was he feeling like this? The Brit shook his head, trying to ignore the small whispers that clung to the back of his head.

The judge sighed. "You always were the complicated one, I've always wondered how your brother copes with it all." the man then pointed at Arthur again. "He has broken the rules, he is now sentenced to Death. We can't give him another chance, unless if you are willing to humiliate yourself then go ahead, I'd love to see you try."

"But he doesn't know the rules, he didn't mean anything by it." the blonde protested. "Can't we just let him get away with it, just this once? Or give him a punishment-"

"He has broken the rules! Why don't you understand?" the German shouted at the man who winced. "No one else has ever gotten a second chance, then why should he be any different?"

"Because he's mine!"

Everyone in the room gasped as the man said that. One by one the room filled with a buzz of whispering and muttering. Many of which were about how His Majesty could say such a thing, others were whispering about how such an Alice could be so rude.

The judge slid down the ladder, walked around the altar and slapped the American before him, stunning the room to silence.

"Listen to yourself." he sneered. "How can you claim that this…_thing_, belongs to you? It is an _Alice_, we can get you another one. Why on Earth do you want this one?"

His Majesty took a quick glance at the English teen and guiltily said; "It's hard to explain..."

"Well, why not have Hatters? The two look similar."

The sunny blonde looked over at the mad man with disgust, causing the hatter to look away from everyone else, his hair covering his eyes. "No." the blonde looked at the German once more. "But you can't…please, give him a second chance-"

"_NO_!" Arthur jumped at the word. "He is going to die, you can't do anything about it." the judge smiled sickly, "Unless you are willing to give up your title and be executed along with this…thing." the man walked around the American like a lion would do to it's prey. "How would your brother react to that? You two are the only family you have, he'd be ever so lonely without you. Could you do that to him?" when the sunny blonde didn't answer, the smiled widened. "Then that settles it."

Arthur felt two strong arms link themselves around his, he looked up to see someone who looked similar to the Italian, although his features were darker, and instead of chocolate eyes, the teen had olive green. The Brit looked at the other and froze as the familiar Italian looked down at him and grinned, placing a finger over his mouth and whispered; 'Don't make a scene.'

Confused by what was happening, the teen was quietly led through a door he hadn't noticed before, and paled. The room was similar to the other, although in this room everything was in black, with a few deep stains splattered in the wall and floor, and the smell of copper was strong. Arthur shuddered as he figured out what this room was for. Emerald eyes looked desperately at the American, hoping that he would at least try to stop this madness. But life is cruel, and the man stood there watching his Alice being taken to the platform where his executioner stood.

He was a good few inches taller than the American. His pale blonde hair was a mess and seemed to have deep red streaks through it. He had a slim face which held a grin similar to the albino, ice cold blue eyes carved into you just at a mere glance, his skin was pale and had crimson stains which were practically tattooed into his skin. The man wore a deep red shirt which was hidden underneath a long coat black coat - the cuffs and the inside of it was the same colour was the shirt - that fell a couple of inches below his knees, his jeans were blood red with deeper shades of the colour splattered on them, he wore matte black leather boots which went halfway up his calf, a weird pattern of skulls imprinted into them. Around his scarred neck he wore the familiar mask, along with a black skull hanging off a chain which stopped bellow his chest. The man also carried axe twice the size of the Brit, the handle was midnight red - at the end of it was a chain which was similar to the necklace - and the axe was black.

Arthur's feet felt like lead, his blood turned to ice. It seemed to take an eternity to walk up those three simple steps, his chest tightened, his stomach was churning and he realised he was shaking. This was it, this was the end, Death would claim him just like all his other victims. As he was forced to his knees, the teen glanced at the executioner who simply grinned back at him, ready for when he has the right to cut off the teens head.

A warm hand was pressed against his cheek, causing him to jump slightly at the contact. The teen looked into sapphire eyes, who looked back sadly.

"I'm sorry." the sunny blonde murmured.

"Can't you do anything to stop it?" Arthur whispered, trying to keep his voice calm. Although he didn't even know this man, for some reason he completely trusted this _stranger._

The man shook his head. "If I could I would, there is a way but it means leaving my brother." he smiled sadly. "I can't leave him by himself, he's already lonely as it is." he leaned forward and kissed the teen lightly on the lips. When the American pulled away he chuckled after looking at the blush which spread across Arthur's face, he gave the teen one last smile before standing up to walk over to the wall and lean against it, watching the scene.

It was then that Arthur realised he was shaking, that tears were spilling down his cheek. Why was he afraid? He was close to suicide several times but decided against it at the last minute, why should this be any different? Maybe it was because he wasn't expecting it, maybe it was the executer who was grinning sadistically at him.

Maybe it was because he didn't _choose_ it to happen.

It didn't matter, he was going to die. This was it, this was the end. He looked over at the sunny blonde one last time before closing his eyes as he felt the man with the axe stand next to him. There was a chuckle, the sound of the blade cutting through the air, and then blackness.

o.o.o

He let out a blood curdling _scream._

**END.**

o.o.o

**Yay! It r be done :D sorry for the late update, the night I was gonna upload it my laptop got raped by virus' and I've finally gotten rid of the last of them -insert church song- and I've been really stressed out with essays and deadlines (exams start next month, woohoo!)**

**Okay~ so there were a couple of questions to the last chapter, I thought after having Prussian explain it in the other chapters it would make sense, however I was naïve enough to think that everyone thinks the same way as me (I keep forgetting) so here's the answers;**

**Alice: An Alice is basically your soul mate (yes I believe in soul mates), you know when you have found your Alice - or your owner - because you instantly want to be with them…more or less love at first sight. However, some people haven't found their Alice and steal other people's, or take the ones which are lost in the woods. In this case it would be Russia and China, Russia got pissed with his original Alice (Latvia) and killed him, so he stole China who is being used as a punching bag (I love China as a character, and Russia but I hate RoChu, so I couldn't help but put it in, sorry RoChu fans ^^; ) **

**Hatters: I have this weird thing by calling people weird names, I can't put it in normal stories so I loved the fact I could get away with it in this story. Hatters is meant to be the Mad Hatter, he is one person. And someone asked if he were Wales, sadly no (if I wrote about Wales then it would be my hatred towards them, bad childhood there I'm afraid ^^; ) it's actually the personification of Flying Mint Bunny. His personality and cockney accent is based off of DarkmoonSigel's fanfics, but his description is my idea…kinda… I just wrote him how I'd imagine him to be if he were a human, which is similar to Arthur.**

**Oh, also TangerineTea, now that you mention it, this is kinda similar to McGee's Alice, but I didn't know anything about it until a couple of weeks after finishing this, but I've been hooked on the soundtrack (too skint to buy the game, it's almost £30!) so yeah, the sequel might be a bit more…messed up. No wait, it will be. :D gotta love my psychotic mind and the music I listen to (Birthday Massacre ftw)**

**Anyways~ Reviews etc. are welcome as always. And thanks so much for reading this (: **

**EDIT: I re-read over what I said above, and I didn't mean to sound bitchy and sarcastic, I really am naïve when it comes to explaining things, ask any of my friends or family, I can go on and on about something and instantly think they know what I'm on about. I keep forgetting people think differently from me XD /fail. Sorry if I offended anyone ^^;**


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